


Prince Mystery

by probably_publius



Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adopted Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Alternate Universe - Dragon, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, And Remy for the drama, Camping, Deceit | Janus Sanders is a Mess, Dragon Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Dragons, Emile is just here for emotional support, Fire, Fluff and Angst, I've realized that Patton is basically Odin in this story, It's so hard to write fantasy, Kidnapping, King Morality | Patton Sanders, Lava - Freeform, Like seriously is Janus okay he's so weird, Logan is a shy bb, M/M, Major Character Injury, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Dad, No Smut, Original Character Death(s), Patton's Character may be interpreted as Unsympathetic, Prince Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Rescue Missions, Roman has a huge ego, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Tags Are Fun, Teacher Logic | Logan Sanders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25535767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probably_publius/pseuds/probably_publius
Summary: In a world of dragons, there is bound to be fighting between them and humans. In the kingdom of Morrlty, lives a king who loves all but hates dragons. Except for one dragon. He adopted a halfing child, hoping to raise him to be better than his barbaric family.The halfing prince doesn't know he's a dragon but he does know he's different. While everyone else in his kingdom is friendly, he's shy and reserved. But he meets an interesting young man who makes him want to come out of his shell.But on his 18th birthday, the prince learns the truth of his ancestry that suddenly put his adoptive father at risk. Can the prince and his new friends save the king from the dragons? And how will the halfing deal with the knowledge that he's related to the monsters?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 18
Kudos: 28





	1. In which the prince visits the kingdom

Dragons are barbaric creatures. They always have been. Or at least, that’s what we believe. We also believe that dragons are reptilian monsters, but that is also untrue. Believe it or not, dragons came from humans.

How did such a monstrous beast come from our faultless species, you ask? Well the short answer is evolution. The long answer, however, requires you to look and realize that our species is not as faultless as you think.

In truth, humans are actually quite flawed, and our fatal flaw is our stubbornness to fight, to oppose each other in war. And there was one war in particular that caused the creation of dragons.

Another fatal flaw of humans is their love of fire. Well, the early breeds of dragons loved fire too much. So much, in fact, they swallowed it and found a new way to yield it. They found a way to breathe fire. The normal humans called them monsters and tried to cast them out to their own civilization. Eventually they succeeded but not before many battles were fought, causing a further divide between the humans and dragons.

It was many years later when our story takes place. The dragons look ever the more monstrous and hostility between the species has only grown over time.

In this time, the dragons lived in volcanic caves deep in the mountains neighboring the kingdom of Morrlty. Morrlty was a small kingdom inhabited by the kindest of people and led by the kindest of kings, King Patton. Patton treated his subjects more like close friends. Every citizen had met him at least once and each can vouch for his surprising altruism.

The prince, on the other hand, was much more reserved. Actually, he was really reserved. So much so, barely anyone except for the palace staff had met him and knew his name. Known as Prince Mystery throughout the land, he was adopted by King Patton when the court decided he needed an heir. Since Patton had no interest in finding a queen, he adopted a poor orphan. But the origin of the boy are as unknown as his name.

But, if you’d like to know, his name is Virgil, and he is currently in his bedroom whining to father about visiting the kingdom. “Pops, please. I really  _ really  _ don’t want to go out.”

“Oh c’mon, kiddo. You turn eighteen next week and yet you’ve barely ever left the palace walls. What are you so afraid of?” the king asked.

Virgil bit his lip. There was a long list. “Well, a lot of things, but mostly that every young boy, girl, and nonbinary citizen will stampede me if they know I’m the prince.” Virgil hated saying that everyone was head over heels in love with him, but he knew it was true. He once even heard that someone had performed a one-man musical about the Mystery Prince falling in love with him.

“Virge, if it really bothers you that much, you can just go in disguise.”

“O- okay.” That solved the biggest of his worries, although he was still anxious about a lot of possibilities. 

“Of course, it would be more fun if you could just travel with your dear old dad.” Patton dramatically sighed, trying to guilt Virgil into traveling with him.

Virgil shook his head. “You know I can’t. They’d all know I’m the prince. And even if I disguised myself as a… castle staff member, they’d bombard me with questions. Mr. Pythagoras said people ask him questions about me, but he doesn’t answer them.”

Patton smiled dreamily and rested his chin in his palm. “Logan Pythagoras? Your cute tutor?”

“Yeah- wait did you call him cute? Gross, Dad! You’re, like, the king and he’s just my teacher.”

“So?”

“You can’t date someone in a completely different class than you,” Virgil explained, but he knew his dad was king and the rules didn’t apply to him, “But speaking of my tutor, he should be here soon so maybe I shouldn’t go out…”

“No, no, go have fun. Logan and I will just hang out here.”

Virgil grimaced, still not looking forward to visiting the kingdom. “Fine. Just don’t do anything gross.”

Virgil got ready, donning brown trousers, a simple gray tunic, and a black hood. They were the only clothes in his wardrobe that lacked the royal purple hues Virgil loved so much. He left the castle by using the exit in the servant’s quarters, but was stopped by the head of the kingdom’s army in the courtyard.

“Halt. Prince Virgil is that you?” He grabbed Virgil by the shoulder and held him back. General Janus Lüge was one of the only people to have fought a dragon and lived to tell the tale. Before he killed the dragon, however, it was able to burn the left side of his face, giving him a very scary appearance. Virgil was deathly afraid of the general even though he had always shown him kindness.

“What are you doing out of the castle, Your Highness? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you leave before.”

Virgil looked down at the short general. “Uh, my dad said I should actually visit the kingdom. And I wanted it to be low profile.” He was worried that Janus wouldn’t believe him and think he was sneaking out, but to his relief, he let him go.

“Alright, Your Highness. Just be careful out there.” He bid Virgil adieu, and left him on his way.

Virgil walked into town and looked around. He gasped as he realized that the kingdom was actually really beautiful. The houses weren’t brown and dull, but instead painted faint yet colorful hues. In the center of the cobblestone square was a tall fountain spouting water that sparkled in the sunlight, where a few citizens sat and conversed. Farmers were riding in on their horse drawn carts, delivering produce to the shops and markets. Surrounding the town, extensive farms could be seen, then further were the lush green hills and the purple mountains that housed the dragons.

If Virgil weren’t so afraid of human interaction, he might’ve spent more time in the square. But he spotted a nice looking cafe he could sit down in and made his way to the small building. While crossing the square, he passed a group of teenagers sitting at the fountain and happened to hear their conversation. He realized that he was the subject.

“So what do you think of Prince Mystery, Dolly?” one girl asked.

Dolly groaned. “I don’t get the big fuss about him. He’s never shown his face in public. I mean, what kind of a prince doesn’t visit his own kingdom?”

“But that’s the thing,” one boy said, “He’s so mysterious. No one knows who he is or what he looks like.”

“I’m sure he’s amazing,” the first girl said, batting her eyelashes.

_ Sorry to disappoint,  _ Virgil thought, hurrying over to the cafe. When the kingdom found out he was the prince, all their dreams would be broken.

~~~

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of town, a fight was taking place. Sparks flew as the two men clashed their swords together. It was a suspenseful fight. “I’ve got to say,” the man in white said while blocking the other’s advance, “You’ve improved since the last time we fought.”

The man in black growled, “Are you nervous?”

“No,” he answered. He ran up to the side of the barn and jumped off of its wall. He gracefully spun in a circle and brought his sword down with a strong blow.

The man in black blocked it again. “Ever so dramatic you are.”

The man in white shrugged, a smug grin on his face.

However, the man in black started to get the upper hand and the man in white’s grin started to fade. “Now are you nervous?”

The man in white didn’t answer but it was obvious he was. The man in black knew he was trying to remember the rules of swordplay and any moves that might give him an advantage. This was a mistake since now his moves would be easy to calculate while the man in black would still fight in his unpredictable style.

The man in black thrusted forward, backing the other man up near a pile of hay. He didn’t realize as he stepped back and tripped into the dried grass, losing grip of his weapon. As he lay on the ground defenseless with hay straws sticking out of his hair, the man in black pointed the end of his sword at his chest. “Will you surrender now or do I have to cut your face off.”

He frowned. “You wouldn’t do that.”

The man in black raised his eyebrow. “Would I?”

They heard someone groan and looked up to see a man at their gate shouting. “Are you two sword fighting again? I have told you that it is dangerous. Remus, help your brother up.”

The man in black, Remus, held out his hand and pulled Roman out of the pile of hay. “That was fun, brother.”

Roman scowled while picking the bits of straw out of his hair. “For you. You didn’t get your hair messed up.”

"I would've won faster if you let me fight with my mace."

Roman scoffed. "You know that wouldn't be a fair fight. And excuse me if I'm afraid of getting my skull bashed in by my brother."

They turned back to the man who had told him to stop. Logan Pythagoras had been looking after them for years ever since their parents died. He was uptight and pretentious but Remus and Roman liked him, despite all the tricks they pulled on him.

“Hey, hey, Logan! Look at this.” Remus balanced the handle of his sword on his handle and flipped it over trying to catch it with his other hand. He failed and the sword clattered to the ground.

Logan pressed his fingers to the bridge of his glasses. “You boys are eighteen yet you still act like children.”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t treat us like children,” Roman muttered.

“What was that?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow, “Perhaps I’ll stop treating you like a child when you get a job. Remus works as a blacksmith’s apprentice, why can’t you find a profession.”

Normally Roman would make an excuse about why he doesn’t want to work, but today he had good news. “Actually, I got an interview next week.”

“Huh,” Logan said, almost impressed.

“Yeah, for a position in the royal army!” he said proudly.

Logan frowned. “Roman, I meant a real job.”

“The royal army is the realest of all jobs.” He swung his sword at imaginary foes, a determined expression on his face. “I could protect the kingdom against the dragons, or fight opposing armies, and I could even  _ meet the prince!” _

“Oh not this again,” Logan sighed. Roman had a huge crush on Prince Mystery, despite not knowing anything about him nor what he looked like.

“You can’t even tell me a teensy little fact about him?” pleaded Roman, “Not even his name?”

Logan worked as the prince’s tutor at the palace and was one of the few people who’ve ever seen the prince. But he wouldn’t tell anyone about him. “No,” he answered.

Roman groaned. “Will you ever tell me?”

“No. The prince likes his privacy and he wouldn’t appreciate it if his tutor disclosed information on him,” Logan said, “Now, I am going to the palace so I ask that you two stop play-fighting and go make yourself useful.” He turned around and started to walk along the dirt road leading into town.

“Yeah, I better get to work. You doing anything, bro?” Remus asked, sheathing his sword.

Roman shrugged. “I might just head into town. Work on my sketchbook.”

The two brothers walked together to town square and went their separate ways. “What to do today…” Roman pondered to himself. He decided to visit the cafe to see if he would meet any friends there. And if not, he could work on his drawings. Currently, he was sketching possible appearances of the prince.

He entered the quaint wooden building and ordered a hot chocolate. The cafe had large stained glass windows depicting scenes of nature so the room was well lit with colorful splotches of light. There were many small wood tables and booths with soft cushions. Roman’s eyes scanned the room for anyone interesting, and noticed a hooded man sitting alone in the far corner of the cafe. His face was partly hidden and he looked like he didn’t want to be there. Roman was drawn to him immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that sword fight was hard to write. And it wasn't even that long. I dread when we actually get to the real fighting.
> 
> So, I understand that coffee and cafes weren't too mainstream in medieval Europe, but it was either that or a pub and I didn't want to write about alcohol.
> 
> Anyway, stay tuned for more dragon lore and to find out what happens to Roman and the hooded figure in the cafe.
> 
> Au revoir, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals. May you have a great day, night, whatever time it is in the world that is blessed with your existence.


	2. In which Logan falls in love with Patton and also Jam

Logan entered the place like he had done every week day for the past thirteen years. Even though he’d been teaching Virgil since he was only five years old, he never got used to the palace. It was by no means a fairy tale princess castle- it was only a fortified structure for the royal family- but it was still  _ so beautiful. _

The outside was built with bricks formed from the clay gathered near the mountains. From across the kingdom the turrets could be seen boasting the blue flag of Morrlty. The courtyard behind the open gate was filled with staff working happily. Logan frowned at the gate, he wanted to tell King Patton to close it in case any of their enemies decided to attack. But he knew it wasn’t his place.

Inside the castle, it was even more exquisite. The walls were built with white limestone and were decorated with tapestries of all colors. Throughout the halls were portraits of members of the royal family and also paintings of animals. There were also flowered plants everywhere. If this is what inside the castle looked like, Logan longed to see the garden.

He walked to a table that held a flower vase and admired the arrangement. The bouquet held about every flower imaginable: blood red roses, bright orange poppies, faint yellow primroses, shockingly blue vandas, red-purple orchids, light pink hyacinths, white edelweiss, and more. There were also branches of green leaves and berries. The arrangement was rather random, but blue and purple were the most abundant colors. Logan had a suspicion that the King was in charge of organizing the flowers. He could even imagine him in the royal garden, clipping bunches of hydrangeas with his son.

Logan smiled at the thought and picked a light blue poppy from the bunch. He twirled it in his fingers and reached up to place it behind his ear. But as he did, he heard someone behind him. “Hello!”

Logan screamed and dropped the flower. He backed up against the wall and looked to see who was there. He sincerely hoped he wouldn’t get in trouble by whoever it was. When he adjusted his glasses to see who had snuck up on him, he gasped. “Your Majesty,” he said, bowing deeply.

Patton chuckled. His laugh reminded Logan of a spring wind rustling the leaves of a tall tree and birds singing along. “You don’t have to bow to me, Logan,” he said.

Logan stood upright. “Oh.” He was surprised to find Patton this pleasant. He’d only ever met him when he was with his son, but he had never expected him to be as kind as he was with Virgil.

Patton bent over and picked up the flower which Logan had dropped. He gently tapped each petal and in his mind he recited the rhyme which every child in the kingdom knew.  _ He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not…  _ “I suppose you’re looking for Virgil,” he said, “I actually sent him out. It’s his first time seeing the kingdom and he’s very nervous.”

“Ah.” Logan was slightly worried for the boy. He didn’t want hysterical fans like Roman to trample him. “Well, since he isn’t here today you won’t be needing me then.” He bowed again to the king and started to walk off.

“Hold your horses there, Teach,” Patton said, grabbing Logan’s arm and holding him back.

“I don’t have any horses,” Logan said, “And if I did, I doubt I could hold them since they are pretty heavy.”

Patton laughed. “You are really funny, you know that?”

Logan frowned. “I don’t try to be.”  _ Oh great _ , he thought,  _ He’s going to hire me to be the court jester. Now I’m going to be the laughing stalk. _

Patton looped his arm through Logan’s and gently placed the flower behind his ear. Both men tried their best to keep up a calm demeanor, but were internally overjoyed that they were touching. “I’d hate to have you come all this way for nothing, so how about you join me for lunch?” he asked with a smile.

_ Lunch? _ Logan believed it would be in his best interest to decline the offer, but he couldn’t refuse an invitation from the King. Much less one who was smiling at him like he was the sun.

Before he could say anything, they entered the dining room and Logan gasped aloud. It was like nothing he’d ever seen before. The ceiling had to be at least twenty feet tall. On it was a painted mural of the kingdom including the town, the farmland, the forests, the distant hills, and even the Dragon Mountains. In each corner of the room was a large white beam with gold vines crawling up them. A huge window was on the north wall of the room with stained glass accents, casting sunlight over the smooth floors. But even more eye catching was the chandelier and table. The hanging chandelier was gold like the vines and held maybe a hundred blue candles, though only a few were lit at this hour. And the table was fifty feet of polished marble and at each spot was a gold plate with silverware to match.

While Logan stood there practically gaping at the craftsmanship of every inch of the room, Patton just grimaced. “We only ever use this room for meetings or dinner with other nobles. I don’t really like how…  _ fancy _ it is.”

“You’re Majesty, I think fancy might be an understatement,” Logan whispered, still admiring the room.

Patton chuckled. The tutor was so cute with his eyes wide behind his glasses. “C’mon let's head to the kitchen.” He pulled Logan into the small room connected to the dining room. Though it was nowhere near as fancy as the last room, Logan was still impressed. The kitchen had a stove, an oven, and was filled with many cabinets, pantries, and iceboxes. But something was off.

“Where’s the kitchen staff?” he asked, realizing how empty the room was.

Patton opened a pantry and pulled out a loaf of bread and two jars. “I only hire kitchen staff for big meals with delegates or neighboring nobility. Normally, I prefer to cook for myself and Virgil.”

“Huh.” Logan found it hard to believe that a  _ king _ would cook for himself, but it wasn’t too hard to imagine  _ Patton  _ doing it.

“I can’t really whip up anything fancy right now, but I can make PB&J and get us some lemonades if that’s alright?”

Logan hated jam but he didn’t want to decline the King’s offer, so he agreed and waited patiently at the small wooden table in the corner. He watched as Patton hummed while he worked. He had never really taken the time to observe the King properly and was surprised to find him quite cute and down-to-earth. He was slightly short with a mop of unruly golden curls atop his head. He wore round glasses over his large sky-blue eyes and his tan skin was covered in freckles. His wardrobe was quite simple with brown trousers, a blue tunic, and short light gray cape tied around his neck. Logan found the King to look more like a dad than royalty.

Patton, on the other hand, had always thought Logan to be cute. The first time he had come to the palace to teach little Virgil, Patton watched him treat his son with so much compassion. And he was quite smart too, which was admirable. But he seemed shy and Patton was worried that his rank scared him. So he would try to be as friendly as possible to get Logan out of his shell.

He came to the table carrying the sandwiches and handed one to Logan. “Here ya go! Let me get the lemonades, hang on. You can start eating.”

As Patton left to get the drinks, Logan stared down at his sandwich with disdain. He hated the taste of jelly, but this was the King’s food and it’d be rude to let it go to waste. Tentatively, he took a small bite and swallowed. But rather than it being disgusting, it was the best thing he’d ever had.

When Patton returned with iced lemonades, he saw that Logan was already finished. “I was only gone a few seconds how-” he looked at Logan and giggled, “Oh um, you have a little something on your face.” The reserved tutor had jelly all over his face.

Logan reached up to wipe it off. “Do I?” 

“Yeah, here.” Patton grabbed a napkin and dabbed it off for him. The two men blushed. “So I’m guessing you like the sandwich?”

His eyes went wide and he almost smiled. “It. Was.-” he cleared his throat and his stoic demeanor returned, “Satisfactory, thank you.”

Patton giggled again. “You’re so cute.”

Logan turned as red as the strawberry jelly. “Uh… thank you? But yes, it was a good sandwich. I usually don’t enjoy jelly, but this was good.”

“I get it from the Crofters’ farm. They live on the north end of the kingdom if you’re interested.”

“Ah. Thank you.” Logan would definitely be checking it out. “So you sent Virgil to visit the kingdom?”

“Yeah. He preferred to go alone and in disguise. The poor boy is so shy. But I figured he should see the kingdom. He is almost an adult, afterall.”

Logan smiled faintly. “Seems like only yesterday I was teaching the young prince how to add numbers.”

Patton rested his chin in his hand and stared up at Logan. He had dark blue eyes like the twilight. He met his eye contact and immediately got very flustered. The way they talked about Virgil almost made it seem like he was  _ their _ child. Which wasn’t too far from the truth since Logan was the second closest thing to a father figure besides Patton being his actual adoptive father.

Patton tried to form another question but he had gotten lost in those deep eyes of Logan’s, so all that came out was “dangursocutedfghjhxfcgvb.”

“Excuse me, I didn’t catch that,” said Logan.

“Ursocuteomgghjbhsfjsf!”

“Um…”

Suddenly, Janus Lüge walked in and interrupted their ‘conversation’. If you could call it that. “Excuse me, Your Majesty, but can we discuss something important.”

Patton snapped out of it. “Um… sure. Logan, I’m sorry. It was really nice having you.”

“Thank you King Patton,” he said, allowing himself to give a tiny bow, “I shall be heading home now.”

“Okay. See you later,” Patton waved as he left then turned to the General, “Yes?”

“Oh there’s actually nothing to talk about. I just lied to stop the fiasco of you making a fool of yourself. You need to get ahold of yourself if you want to court him.” Janus pretended to check his fingernails even though he was wearing his classic yellow gloves.

“Hmph.” Patton slid down in the chair and blew a curly lock of hair out of his face. “Well, what should I do?”

“I would say be yourself, but that’s not good advice.”

“Hey!”

“Kidding, kidding.” He smirked causing Patton to think he really wasn’t kidding. “My advice would be to play into his interest. I know he has a fascination with science and botany so you should show him the garden.”

“Right.” That  _ did  _ sound like a good idea. “But how do you know that about him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two in the same room until now.”

Janus looked at the King with his single yellow eye. (The other had been burned by the dragon so he wore a golden eye patch over it.) “I know  _ everything. _ ” This of course was another lie. He just knew what was in Logan’s information file from when he first got hired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's such a short chapter, I've been working on my other fic and I didn't have many ideas for this one. But next chapter we shall learn more about Logan's and Patton's relationship as well as what happens with Roman and Virgil. Then the exposition shall be complete and we'll get into the real meat of the story.
> 
> Anyways, au revoir guys, gals, and nonbinary pals. May you have a great day, night, whatever time it is in the world that is blessed with your existence. <3


	3. In which Virgil and Roman write a fanfiction about themselves because Roman is the literal embodiment of an ego and Virgil just wants to be included

King Patton was wandering the halls the next morning, humming to himself. He enjoyed strolling in the corridors as they were lit by the early light. The stained glass windows casted pieces of bright colored light that reminded him of sparkly diamonds on the white tile floors. Outside the windows he could view the flourishing kingdom with lush farms in the distance. He ruled a beautiful kingdom and he was glad he and his army were able to keep the citizens safe from the dragons. Those beasts had no place terrorizing humans, they were disgusting and scaly. There was only  _ one _ dragon who was an exception to this rule. The one dragon Patton had ever shown sympathy for.

As the King passed by his office door, his ears perked up to the sound of shuffling inside. He hoped it wasn’t any burglars, he couldn’t take them in a fight. Hesitantly, he pushed open the large wooden door. “Hello?”

A young angry-looking man clad all in black was fixated at the large paper maps of the kingdom. In other words, Virgil had broken into his dad’s study to look at his things. Patton chuckled. “Heya, kiddo.”

Virgil dropped the maps and put his hands up startled. “Wha-?! I wasn’t doing anything!” Then the prince realized who it was and calmed down. “Oh, it’s just you, Dad. Sorry I was in your office, I was just…” Virgil trailed off and glanced at the maps. He didn’t know how to explain why he was looking for a certain house.

“Oh it’s no problem,” Patton smiled, walking over to the desk and straightened the scattered papers, “It’s good to see you in here actually. It’ll get you more used to the idea of this being your office.”

Virgil grimaced and glanced around the office. He didn’t want to think about that. The day Patton was no longer king and Virgil was the one in charge of the kingdom. The kingdom that spanned hundreds of miles, and had thousands of citizens, and was right next to the Dragons’ Mountains, and-

Patton noticed that Virgil was starting to stare off into space, looking terrified. A common occurrence for the young prince. “Oh sorry, kiddo. I forgot you don’t like the idea of being king.” Patton internally sighed. He needed Virgil to be ready for when the day came but didn’t want to scare the poor boy. “So what were you doing in here?”

Virgil snapped out of it. “Oh… right. I was, um…” He avoided his father’s gaze by looking at the maps. “I was looking for somebody’s house. He invited me over today.”

Then came the happy squealing. “Oh my gosh, a boy invited you over!!! I’m so proud!!! My dark, strange son found a boyfriend!!! I’m gonna get to plan a royal wedding!!!”

Virgil blushed. God, why’d his dad have to be so loud about everything? He was going to go deaf if people kept shouting in his ears. “Calm down, Dad, he’s not my boyfriend. Just some dude I talked to yesterday.” He didn’t think his dad would approve if he told him that the only reason he’s going to see him is because he wants to laugh at his stupid play.

Patton had stopped squealing but was still smiling widely. “Okay, okay. But who’s the boy~”

Virgil sighed. “ _ Dad. _ If you say it like that I’m not going to tell you.”

“Sorry. Go ahead.”

Virgil paused but inevitably gave the name up. “Roman. Cupid, I believe.”  _ A stupid romantic name for a stupid romantic guy,  _ he thought in his head.

“Ooh yeah!” Patton agreed knowingly, “He’s the eccentric kid who has the twin brother at the edge of town. I heard he’s quite the playwright.” Of course Patton knew him. Patton knew  _ everyone. _

Virgil chuckled. “Oh yeah. I’m actually going to see one of his plays right now.” He had packed some popcorn in his bag for the show. This was going to be  _ really  _ entertaining.

Patton smiled. “Yay! If you’re going out, I’ll be able to spend the day with Logan again!”

Virgil laughed, caught by surprise with his dad’s first comment. “Gross Dad.”

“What? We hung out yesterday. But Janus said that I was a bit, eh, awkward around him so he gave me some pointers.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “ _ Janus  _ gave you pointers? Really?” Great, his dad was taking relationship advice from a snakey old single military general.

“Oh c’mon. You know I’d trust ol’ Jan with my life. He was there in the forest when we found you, you know.”

Virgil nodded. He’d heard the story over and over, every time he asked about his biological family. (He asked every year on his birthday, so he’d probably hear it again in a few days when he turned eighteen.) Patton and Janus heard a baby crying in the forest and found a baby abandoned in a tree. The two took him home to the palace and Patton had legally adopted him, making him the prince. But Virgil had always wanted to know more. Who were his parents? And why did they leave him in the forest? Did they not love him?

“So you found where Roman’s at?” Patton asked, interrupting Virgil from his thoughts. He nodded. “Well you better get going then! I’m proud of you son!” Eighteen years of hermitting in the palace and Virgil had made a friend.

The prince smiled at his father. “Thanks Dad.” He walked out of the office and threw his hood over his head, ready to venture into the kingdom.

~~~

Virgil was going to arrive soon and Roman had everything set up. All the handmade costumes and props were set up in the backyard, Roman’s makeup and hair were perfectly done, and he had even set up a chair for Virgil to sit at during the two hour long play. There was only one problem: Roman’s annoying twin brother wouldn’t leave.

“Whatcha doing bro? Whatcha doing bro? Whatcha doing?” he kept asking over and over. He was giving Roman a headache. No wait, correction: Remus was the human embodiment of a headache.

Roman growled. “Don’t you have work or something? I need you to leave.”

“Wow, rude much. Who are you having over?”

Roman looked away. “Who said anything about having someone over?”

Remus gasped. “Oh my god, you are! So who is it?~”

Roman scoffed. “Goodness, why’d you have to say it like that? It’s  _ no one _ .”

“Mm-hmm. And dragons don’t breathe fire. Just tell me who it is and I’ll leave.”

Roman sighed. “It’s just some guy I met at the cafe. Good? Happy? Can you leave now?”

Remus did not leave but instead shouted. “Roman has a boyfriend!”

Roman shushed his brother even though there was no one to hear them except for the sheep in the field. “Shut up. He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Friend with benefits then.”

“No.”

“F*ck buddies?”

“Please stop.”

“Never,” the moustached man grinned.

Roman groaned dramatically, dragging his palm down his face. Then, he spotted a black hooded figure coming towards them.  _ Virgil! _

“Greetings, my  _ friend  _ Virgil!” he shouted, stressing the ‘friend’ for his dirty-minded brother to hear.

But Remus only smirked. “Oh he’s  _ cute. _ You picked a good one, bro.” When Virgil was right in front of them, Remus extended his hand. “Hello there, you must be Roman’s fu-”

Roman pushed him out of the way. “You must excuse my brother. He’s a little  _ loco en la cabeza. _ ” Roman whispered into Virgil’s ear so Remus wouldn’t hear, “He was dropped on the head as a baby.”

“We killed our mom when we were born, Roman. There was no one there to drop us,” Remus commented.

“Oh,” Virgil frowned.

Roman chuckled uneasily and pushed Remus away. “Get out of here,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Kay, bro. Love you!” He ran away leaving Virgil and Roman alone.

The two stood there in awkward silence, not sure what to say after that. Roman had suddenly found the grass super interesting. All those green blades poking out of the earth. Amazing. Surprisingly, it was the more anxious one who spoke first. “So, your brother seems like a fun…”

“Hmmm, yeah…”

“And that thing about your mom…?”

Roman nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Damn.”

Roman nodded. “Yeah, she died in labor and our dad was nowhere to be found. Logan has taken care of us our entire lives. He doesn’t like it, but we’re grateful for him. Even if he is strict and too smart for my liking.”

“Well maybe your dad’s still alive. Do you think he could be someone important?” Virgil asked.

“As a kid I always dreamt he was a knight or a noble from another country. That one day he’d come knocking on our door announcing that we’re foreign royalty and I’d be married off to Prince Mystery.”

Virgil was not expecting that. But then again, no dream was off the table for Mr. Fantasy here. “So… did you find anything about your dad?”

Roman shrugged. “Yeah. Turns out he was the town drunk. Died of heavy intoxication years ago.”

“Oh, damn.” Virgil cast his eyes back to the ground. Guess they both were orphans with parents who were either dead and/or neglecting.

“Yeah… anyways!” Roman regained his charming smile, the smile that annoyed the heck out of Virgil. Gah, he had such pretty teeth. And a pretty face. Disgusting. “Should we get on with the show?”

Virgil stifled his laugh. “Heck yeah!” he sat back in the chair Roman had laid out and pulled out his bag of popcorn.

Roman saw that Virgil was prepared and smiled. Most people thought his play was crap, but maybe Virgil would actually enjoy it instead of laughing at him and throwing rotten fruit at him. Hopefully, no fruit this time. Roman’s shirt was new. “Alright.” Roman composed himself and started the show. “The scene opens up on the kingdom in the late evening…”

As Roman acted and sang his musical play, Virgil snacked away at his popcorn. The play’s summary was basically that a townsman by the name of Romano (gee, wonder who that could be) was at a ball hosted at the palace. The entire opening number was Patton singing about the ball and inviting Romano there in person. Virgil thought Roman’s portrayal of his dad was hilarious. Prince Mystery wasn’t present at the ball but Roman- er, I mean Romano was in the garden and spotted him on the balcony. So he sang him a beautiful love ballad that made the prince climb down and meet him. Here’s where things got iffy. Virgil’s character- or really ‘the prince’s’ character since he was nothing Virgil -was, well, nothing like Virgil! He was elegant and sauve and the perfect figure of royalty. 

But he was also a total damsel in distress. After the Prince and Romano kissed, a dragon witch- Roman’s words not Virgil’s -swooped in and kidnapped the prince. So the rest of the play was Romano going on a solo quest to kill the dragon witch and save the captured prince. Sure, the story had potential, but Virgil found it cliche. Plus, there were no lessons taught, no character arch, and Romano had almost all of the stage time. Virgil wasn’t saying that  _ he _ wanted to have more lines, he just knew  _ this fictional prince  _ deserved more of the spotlight.

When Roman ended the show with a triumphant bow, Virgil gave him the applause he deserved. “Gotta say, Roman, that was better than I expected.”

“Why, thank you,” Roman said, sitting besides the emo prince. It was the first time his work had ever gotten positive feedback. Even his own brother had critiqued. He had wanted there to be more bloodshed and death.

“But…” Virgil went on.

Roman groaned. He knew it was too good to be true.

“I just have some, uh, constructive criticism,” he said, “You’re okay with that, right?”

Roman frowned but agreed. “Constructive. Not mean. Right.” He had a hard time taking criticism even if the person only meant well.

“Okay… so the acting was really good. I liked how you did the Kings,” Virgil started.

“Thank you.” So far so good.

“I enjoyed the songs too. You’re a good singer, I gotta say.”

“Thank you.” Virgil hadn’t said anything mean yet.

“The prince was fun- a bit much -but fun.”

“Oh.” Well, Roman could take that, if that was all-

“But the plot… well, the beginning was good. It has potential, but… it wasn’t... um, good?”

Roman pouted. “I don’t like you.”

Virgil winced. “No, Princey, the majority of it was good.” He didn’t want to hurt Roman’s feelings and he knew he took this personally. “But the plot needs some tweaking. Like maybe Romano shouldn’t go alone. He can’t possibly kill a dragon by himself.”

“Dragon- _ witch _ ,” Roman corrected. But he was taking Virgil’s feedback to heart, he did, afterall, care about his opinion. Roman took out a pocket notebook and started writing down the points. “Go on…”

“Maybe he should get a fun sidekick, or a comrade to join him. And maybe the prince is worried Romano won’t save him so he starts to lose hope, singing a sad song about feeling alone. Then, he tries to break out but isn’t able to do so until Romano helps him…” Virgil went on listing his ideas to Roman who actively listened. To be honest, he was having a good time expressing himself. He had come here for a laugh but instead a day of brainstorming with someone who actually turned out to be pretty talented despite the other’s thoughts of his play.

When the sun started to fall towards the mountained horizon, they had almost the entire play rewritten. “You should come over again tomorrow to finish this,” Roman suggested. He gasped in an eureka moment. “Actually, you should play the prince!” he shouted, “And maybe my sidekick since I can’t do them both at the same time.”

Virgil blushed. “I don’t know… I can’t really act, or sing. And, I mean, come on! Do I look like I’d make a good prince?” Even as the  _ actual  _ crown prince, Virgil was no good.

Roman took Virgil’s hands in his. “Virgil, you make the  _ perfect  _ prince.”

Virgil flinched. He had panicked for four reasons just then. Number one: _Does he know I’m the prince?! Oh god, oh god, he knows!_ Number two: _He thinks I’m perfect? Pssh, well he’s wrong._ Number three: _He’s touching my hands! Ah, I don’t like to be touched!_ And number four: He’s _touching my hands!_ Roman Cupid _is touching_ my _hands!_ _Ahhhh!_

He was suddenly freaking out and grabbed his bag and stood up, quickly making a beeline towards the road. “I have to go,” he cried shakily behind him.

Roman frowned. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked helplessly.  _ Roman, you doltz, you messed up! _

Virgil shook his head. “No, I just- I have to go.” He hurried off on the dirt road.

“Will I see you tomorrow?!” Roman asked. But Virgil was already gone. “Oh, great…” he muttered to himself, picking up his filled notebook from the grass. He just hoped it wouldn’t be the last time he saw Virgil.

And it was not the last time. Though the next was under very peculiar circumstances. You see, Virgil returned to the palace that night to find Patton in the happiest state he’d seen him in a long time. The King recalled to Virgil to have spent hours with his tutor. Logan still hadn’t completely warmed up to him, but Patton was sure he’d get closer to him eventually. Virgil was happy for his dad, but he only had time for a few words before he rushed off to his room to be alone.

“God, what were you thinking?!” Virgil demanded of himself when he was left alone, “Running off like that without a goodbye?!” He fell onto his bed and pulled at his long hair. “ _ Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! _ He probably hates me now.”

He extended his arms and pulled at his black satin sheets, clenching the fabric into his fists angrily. “He won’t want to see me again,” he cried, tears forming in his eyes. And so Virgil decided it was in everyone’s best interest if he stopped visiting Roman. It was going to be hard to let him go, but it was necessary. Of course he could just talk to him and see that everything was fine, but that option scared Virgil. Virgil also knew that his presence in the castle would steal Logan away from his dad, so he should probably hide in town somewhere. But nowhere near Roman.

Virgil and Roman didn’t see each other again. At least not until the end of the week when Roman came to the palace. Not until he found Virgil huddled in a cupboard crying. Not until they were sent on a very real quest of their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry guys that this chapter took so long. School started for me and even thought it's virtual, it's still a lot so my upload schedule is going to be less frequent. (This goes the same for my other fics if you're reading those.) My school schedule is also changing next week so I'm gonna have even less time. I'm so so so sorry. 
> 
> It'll probably take me at most a month to write next chapter. Which is a shame because I have a good one planned. It's when the plot really starts picking up.
> 
> Even though, I still hope you enjoyed and that you have a great day/night/whatever time it is the world that is so blessed by your existence. Au revoir my friends and until next time.


	4. In which Virgil gets a birthday surprise

To understand the events of this chapter we have to go back to the week which Virgil spent avoiding everyone by hiding somewhere in town. For the most part he had hid in the back of some farmer’s property at the edge of the forest. The forest was what divided the kingdom from the Dragon’s territory. It spanned miles of thick vegetation. He never ventured into the trees- even he knew it was filled with dragons and other kinds of beasts -but he enjoyed looking through the gaps between the trees and watching birds fly around a few times.

But he almost felt a pull towards the forest. Like he knew he belonged there. He had been told that he was found in the forest so maybe that’s what the pull meant. But Virgil was too afraid to find out.

Except for the last day of being seventeen. He knew he wouldn’t see the forest the next day because he'd be too busy at the palace, so maybe he’d take a look. And so he took a step into the haunted forest. And another step. And another, and another, and another. He kept walking until he heard a startling noise to his left. He froze and peered over his shoulder where he saw what must’ve been an old lady staring at him. But she wasn’t human. Oh no, for she had green wrinkly skin that resembled scales. Virgil screamed and ran as far away from the forest as he could.

When he was what he thought was a safe distance away. He reflected back on the scaled woman. She was possibly a tree nymph, but they usually came in the form of young girls. Then Virgil remembered something he'd learned about dragons a long time ago. They could take a humanoid form with scaled skin. Virgil shuddered. _ Oh god, did I just see a dragon?  _ he worried. But he should’ve been asking  _ Did the dragon see me?  _ Because she had. And she was indeed looking for him. Virgil didn’t sleep too well that night.

The next morning Virgil stood looking at himself in the bathroom mirror after dressing up in his birthday suit. It was nothing special, just more purple than a normal outfit. But yes, it was his birthday. His eighteenth birthday. And the prince was now legally an adult. Virgil hadn’t expected to feel any different, but… he did. He felt more mature, but that was probably just silly. Something stupid that his dad would say and then his tutor would refute.

Speaking of his dad, the moment Virgil stepped out of his door, the king was there to greet him with a hug. “Oh my gosh, your eighteen now! My little baby is an adult, all grown up! Ahhhh!!!”

“Dad, please don’t start crying,” Virgil said as he tried to get out of his dad’s suffocating bear hug. But he was smiling at the silly king, he did love his dad.

“But- but you’re all grown up now,” Patton said, “And you won’t need a dad anymore!” He remembered the time eighteen years ago when he and Janus first saw Virgil. He had always told his son that he was alone and abandoned in this forest, but that was nowhere near true. Still, Patton didn’t want to share with Virgil the truth.

“Pops, trust me. I’m still gonna need a dad,” Virgil chuckled, finally escaping his dad’s hug and standing up to his full height next to the short king.

Patton looked up at the prince with a bittersweet smile. He had really grown up in front of his eyes. “Yeah… oh I’ll still help you become an adult. A process which is called  _ adultery _ .”

Virgil pursed his lips. “Uh dad, that’s not what it’s called- oh nevermind. Should we go eat breakfast now?”

Patton nodded eagerly. Every year he made enough pancakes to feed the whole kingdom. That’s probably because he expected Virgil to invite the whole kingdom. “So obviously the regulars are invited, Logan and Janus--oh don’t look at me that way young man, Janus is always invited--but why don’t you invite someone else? It is your eighteenth birthday after all. You can invite that Roman boy.”

Virgil cringed. “Nah Dad, I don’t think he’d want to come.”

Patton frowned. “He doesn’t know you're the prince, does he?”

Virgil shook his head.

Patton sighed. “Virge, why do you keep that part of yourself a secret, you should be proud of your royalty.”

Virgil grimaced. “But what if he thinks of me differently?”  _ What if he just wants me for my royalty? _ he thought. That was the prince’s real fear. For years Patton had warned him to be weary of selfish people who just wanted the crown. In fact, for the first ten years of his life, Virgil wasn’t allowed out of the castle for this reason. When Patton had suddenly changed his mind about that, Virgil kept those fears with him and never left the castle. Virgil was never sure why his dad had revoked the rule of not leaving the castle when the boy had turned ten, so he didn’t trust the sudden change.

“Anyways!” the king shouted joyously, breaking Virgil from his thoughts. “Pancake time?!”

Virgil nodded. “Pancake time,” he agreed, following his father to the kitchens.

While the two made their way through the extravagant corridors, Patton rambled on about the day’s plans. “So Janus won’t be able to make it until later because he has a new recruit to interview for the military, but Logan should be on his way. So I was thinking we could go down to the gardens and have a party there with some entertainment and music and-” Patton turned to his son who had a worried scowl on his face. It was more than his default scowl, Patton could tell that Virgil was thinking about something worrisome. “What’s wrong?”

“Is- is today even my real birthday?”

Patton sighed. This conversation came every year. And every year, Patton gave him the best answer he could. But maybe this year should be different… maybe this year, Virgil deserved to know the truth. Patton opened his mouth. “Uh, kiddo, the thing is-”

Before he could continue, a loud crash rang out through the palace. Virgil gasped and flung himself against the wall, pressed against it for protection. “What is it?” he gasped. “Invaders? Dragons?! A firework display gone wrong?!!”

Two guards came running around the corner and bowed in front of the king. “Your majesty,” one of them said. “It- it’s dragons, they say they’ve come for the heir!”

Patton gasped.  _ No, no! It can’t be true! They can’t take him! _ His eyes flew to Virgil. “Kiddo, you’ve got to hide!” he demanded.

“But sire,” the other guard protested. “The dragons say if they can’t find the prince, they’ll take  _ you _ !”

But Patton had made up his mind. “They  _ can’t  _ take Virgil! I’ll go and negotiate with the enemy. Soldiers, please, can you take my son somewhere safe?”

As the guards made their way toward the frightened prince, the noises of the attack got louder. The ignition of fire and screams could be heard. Virgil shook his head, his eyes wide. “No, no! They’ll take you!!”

“Son-”

“NO!” Virgil ran towards his father and gripped his arms tightly. “You  _ can’t  _ go! Please, if I need to go somewhere safe, you’re coming with me!”

Patton looked up at his son who towered above him. “Virgil…” he reached up and wiped away a tear darkened by eyeshadow.

“This way!” a raspy voice shouted from behind the corner. “I can smell the half-blood!”

Virgil looked at Patton frantically. “Half-blood?! Dad, what are they talking about?!”

“Don’t worry about it. Right now you need to run!” he demanded.

“Dad! Dad, no!”

As the sound of the dragons came closer, the two guards stood defensively in front of the royal family, but Patton wasn’t going to let them die for him, and he wasn’t going to let them find Virgil.

The king dragged his son to the closest wall and ripped a tapestry down. The metal bar holding it up fell to the floor with a loud clang, exposing a wooden door in the limestone bricks. Patton threw Virgil in the small closet. He was only able to whisper a  _ sorry _ before the dragons overtook the hallway and Virgil was enclosed in the dark closet.

Patton turned to the group of dragons with a brave face. “You’re not going to find him here,” he stated.

An orange dragon in a short humanoid form stepped forward. “Tell us where the half-blood is and no one gets harmed,” he growled and pointed his double headed ax at the king’s chest.

“You heard what I said: You are not going to find him here!” he repeated. His demeanor was bold and protective. He was not going to let them take Virgil.

A green dragon grunted. She was in her full form and had to crouch her long neck under the ceiling. “Well, you heard what the king said. If we can’t find the boy, we can’t just take this idiot.” She pointed a clawed finger at Patton.

He straightened himself. By no means did he want to be taken by dragons, but if that’s what it took to keep Virgil safe, then he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself. He stepped forward.

The orange dragon sneered, revealing a row of sharp canines. He grasped Patton by the collar and yanked him forward. The guards were about to interfere but Patton shook his head.

  
“ _ This, _ ” the dragon said, “Is gonna be interesting.” He hit the king over the head with the handle of his ax, knocking him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm so sorry for such a short and cruddy chapter being posted so late, but I've had a lot of school work and haven't found much time to write. Next chapter though, things are gonna get real, so put on your seat belts! Anyway, I apologize again, but I do hope you enjoy and have a swell day/night/whatever time of day it is in the world that's blessed with your existence.


	5. In which they hatch a plan- er, a loose idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, you may have noticed that I changed the rating to Teen. This is because this chapter includes (TW:) swearing, a concubine so it's implied that there was some non-consensual sex, and the characters keep refering to something as a suicide mission.

_ Slam.  _ Patton closed the door leaving Virgil in darkness. He couldn’t see what was happening outside but he could slightly hear the negotiation. “No!” he screamed, but he felt the sound-blocking fabric on the door and knew his screaming was futile. Still he screamed in protest until his throat got sore.

“No…” he whimpered, falling to the floor. His dad had just sacrificed himself to the dragons, and that was way too much to handle. His mind started filling with scenarios where the dragons tortured and killed him. “Oh god, they’re going to kill you,” he gasped.

He punched the door and repeated himself. “They’re going to  _ kill  _ you!” He started scratching at the door, hoping he could escape and save his dad. But he couldn’t find the handle and fell into panic. He sobbed as hot tears fell onto his purple robes. He felt clammy and hot all of a sudden, and though it was too dark to see, it felt like the room was spinning.

He fell back onto a pile of fabrics and pulled at his bangs. “No, no, no!” he kept repeating for no one to hear. He felt his heart beat a million times a minute, and started to hyperventilate. “No!” he gasped, before passing out from the stress. “No…”

It was two hours after the attack that someone found Virgil. That someone was Janus Lüge. He was still cleaning up after the ambush. With dozens of soldiers dead and even more injured, the military was going to need some time to recover. While helping the injured get to a makeshift sickbay, an interviewee by the name of Roman Cupid had followed Janus the entire time, going off about how exciting this had been.  _ Exciting _ ? Janus thought.  _ You think this disaster is exciting?! _ But the boy was eager to help out so Janus let him stick around.

At some point during the cleaning up process, Logan Pythagream, Virgil’s frumpy tutor and the man that Patton had been trying to impress, came running into the palace. “What happened?!” he demanded. His eyes were wide and frantic and his long hair was sticking out in random places. “Where’s- where’s Pat- the king?!”

Janus looked at him morosely. “His majesty was… taken by the dragons.”

“What!” Logan shrieked. He gripped Janus by the shoulders and screamed in his face. “You’re the military general, aren’t you supposed to protect him?!”

Janus stepped back. He was already feeling guilty about the kidnapping, but Logan made him feel even worse. “I did all I could,” he replied shakily. “But in the end, he sacrificed himself for the prince.”

“The prince,” Roman gasped.

Logan took a step back and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even further. Janus had seen Logan in the palace many times but he’d never gotten close enough to see how stressed he could become. “He sacrificed himself. Of course,” he said bitterly. “Is the prince okay?”

“I haven’t had any time to check on him. Come on, we’ll find him.” The short general led the way down the corridor leading to the prince’s room. Halfway down the hall, Janus stopped. “This is where it happened,” he said. The hallway hardly looked like a kidnapping had occurred there, but it was indeed where it had happened. The only thing changed about the corridor is that a large tapestry had been torn down revealing a door to one of the secret closets that only Janus and the king knew about. The closets had been built in case people in the palace had to hide during a dragon attack. Some use those were.  _ What if? _ Janus thought, taking a step towards the door. He opened it revealing the prince unconscious on a pile of cloaks.

“Virgil?” Janus heard Roman ask.

“How do you know his name?” both Janus and Logan questioned in unison.

“We- we’ve met before… He’s the prince?”

Janus turned back to the sleeping prince. “Virgil,” he called, shaking his body gently. Janus often scared the prince, unintentionally, which was strange since Janus should’ve been the one afraid of Virgil since he knew of his heritage.

Virgil awoke and suddenly jumped forward. “They took him!” he screamed. He then fell, leaving Janus to catch him before he hit the floor. “They took him…” he sobbed.

“I know. It’s okay, Virgil.” Janus brought him into a hug. Normally, Virgil didn’t like Janus anywhere near him, but in this moment he put aside his prejudice against the general.

Virgil wiped away his tears and looked at the other two people in the room. Logan and… “Roman?!” he asked, shocked to see him here.

Roman gave a slight wave. “I’m sorry about the king. I mean… he was your dad, so this must be pretty hard.” Roman was hardly ever awkward, but this was a strange situation.

Virgil looked back down at Janus. “Why’d they take him?” he asked. “Why did they want me?”

Janus knew Virgil deserved answers and knew that the king was no longer here to hide the truth. So Janus told him the story. But, since the general was not a completely honest man, he still kept a few elements to himself. Here is real story:

When Virgil had been found in the forest, the king and general were leading an expedition to rescue hostages from the dragons. Five women had been taken from their homes and dragged to the mountains months ago and only now had they put together a rescue team. Patton insisted on following Janus and the battalion of six soldiers, so he came with. When they had made their way to a point deep in the forest, a point that no doubt dragon territory, they heard screaming.

“Did you hear that?” Patton had asked Janus. “We have to go find it.”

Janus glanced at his men. They were resting from the day’s long trek, and he didn’t want to bother them with this so he decided that he and Patton would check this out alone. “Come on,” he whispered.

Janus had once defeated a dragon before, but it was only a baby that had wandered into the kingdom. And even then, his fight with the dragon that had burned half his face had left him with a stronger fear of dragons. He didn’t show it, but the one person who had ever survived a dragon fight, was terrified of the creatures. But he didn’t tell Virgil this.

Janus and Patton walked through the trees and found the source of the screaming. A brunette woman, one of the ones kidnapped by the dragons was sat up against a large oak tree holding her bulging stomach. “I didn’t know one of the hostages was pregnant,” Patton said.

“They weren’t,” Janus replied gruesomely. They approached the woman and sat beside her. “Are you okay?”

The woman shook her head, her lips pursed. “Five of us the dragons took,” she sobbed. “Each a concubine to the dragon king. I’m the only one that survived.”

Patton glanced at the woman’s stomach, realization hitting him. “So is that…”

The woman nodded.

“And is it coming right now?”

She nodded again. “Please. You have to help me. This- this doesn’t feel right.”

Patton grabbed one of the woman’s hands. “Okay, okay, we’ll help you through this. Right Janus?”

This is the part of the story that Janus lied about. He told Virgil that he helped the woman, while in reality he had passed out. A human woman was giving birth to a dragon. No way could he watch that.

“Oh,” Patton said as he watched his friend fall to the floor. “Well, I’ll help you through this.” He gave the woman his best reassuring smile.

“Thank you,” she whispered before starting another series of screams.

The birth was not a pretty one so we shan’t go into the details, but by the end of it, Patton held a baby boy in his hands. At first he looked no different, just like any human baby, wailing at his first few moments in the real world.

At first, Patton wasn’t sure if the baby had any dragon in him. He turned to the women for answers but soon saw that she was dying. Her eyes were focused on the sky and her breaths were few and labored. She could only whisper one word before her body went completely still. “Virgil…”

“Oh goodness,” Patton gasped. The baby started crying harder as if he knew that his mother had just died. Patton shushed the baby, he didn’t want any dragons finding them.

The baby was silenced a little bit, but he still whimpered some. He had pale white skin like snow, blood red cheeks, and a tuft of raven black hair on his head. He was like Snow White from the fairy tale. He opened his eyes, revealing shockingly purple irises. Patton gasped and almost dropped the baby. They were definitely the eyes of a dragon.

“Janus!” he hissed, nudging the general. “Wake up!”

Janus sat up and rubbed his head. “What happen- oh.” He saw the body of the woman. “She’s dead.”

“And this is her son,” Patton said, showing him the halfling. “He’s part dragon.”

Janus looked at the child. He definitely didn’t seem like a threat.

“I know we have to get rid of him, but…”

“You want to keep him?”

Patton nodded with a slight smile. A son... “I need an heir, anyways. We’ll keep a close eye on him and if anything happens…” They both understood what they’d have to do.

“He needs a name.”

Patton glanced at the woman and thought about her last words. “Virgil. His name is Virgil.”

Patton, Janus, and the soldiers returned to the kingdom with news of the dead hostages. The soldiers were confused as to how the king and general knew this, but they didn’t ask. Virgil was taken to the palace where he was raised in secret for five years. Patton didn’t want to tell the kingdom about the prince in case anything happened to him, but he did learn to love the boy. And on his fifth birthday, when Patton realized he wouldn’t develop any dragon traits except for the purple eyes, Patton announced to the kingdom that he had adopted the prince. He also gave Virgil the chance of visiting the kingdom, but he was quite shy and wouldn’t do so until years later.

But during Virgil’s upbringing, Patton always had this fear that the dragons would come for him. Or worse, that if Virgil found out the truth, he’d return to the dragons.

“So he kept your parentage a secret,” Janus finished telling the story.

Virgil was rendered speechless. Hearing that, he felt a lot of things, mainly confusion but he was also angry. He was angry that his dad had lied to him all these years resulting in him getting kidnapped. “So I’m a dragon half-blood,” Virgil whispered, his throat dry. “I’m the son of the dragon king.”

Janus nodded.

Virgil laughed without any humor. “That’s just… wow. I can’t believe he lied to me.”

Logan stepped forward. “Er, Virgil…”

“He lied to me!” Virgil repeated, this time shouting. “He lied to me and then he sacrificed himself to dragons!”

“I know you’re angry,” Janus said. “But Patton did this in your best interest. He wanted to protect you.”

“Protect me? Protect me from  _ what _ ?! From myself?! He didn’t want me going dragon so he kept that part away from me?!” He stepped towards Janus and pointed his finger at his chest, backing him away. “And  _ you _ ! You lied too!” He turned to Logan. “I bet you knew too, didn’t you?”

Logan shook his head. “I didn’t-”

“And you’re just happy to be here because you found out that I’m the goddamn prince,” he said to Roman.

“Actually…” Janus started hesitantly. “With Patton gone, you’d be the k-”

“ _ Don’t, _ ” Virgil cut him off, another lump forming in his throat. He had too much on his mind right now and he needed to sort it out, so he ran to his room leaving the others in the corridor.

“Well,” Janus said. “That went well.”

“Clearly it didn’t,” Logan frowned.

“Oh yeah? Well, I’d like to see you try to explain to an anxiety-ridden teenager that just lost his dad to dragons, that he is indeed also a dragon! And not just the son of any dragon. Oh no, Virgil is related to the most powerful dragon of them all. King Oculis!”

“Virgil’s the prince? The prince of two kingdoms?” Roman asked again.

“Oh my gosh,” Logan breathed. “King Patton has just been  _ kidnapped _ , he might be  _ dead, _ and you’re still fanboying over the prince?!”

“What? Of course I’m worried about the king, but you know that I have been dreaming of the prince forever, Logan. Sue me if I got a bit excited about that.”

“Okay, but maybe you should prioritize, hmm, do you know that word, Roman? You should prioritize what’s important in this situation.”

“Do you two know each other?” Janus interjected.

“Yes,” Logan answered. “I raised him and his brother. Worst decision I have ever made.”

Roman gasped. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You were nothing but a trouble-maker. A, uh, little bratty baby. You would always argue and argue and argue- and you know what? I’m just going to say it. Remus is my favorite.”

“First of all, don’t you  _ dare _ bring my brother into this. Second of all, I’m actually tired of arguing with you as well! We should just fist fight! Mano a mano! Unless you’re not man-o enough to handle it!”

“I- wow… wow. That… it would be laughable, if it weren’t so... pathetic.”

“You just want me to drop all my dreams of the prince. Unacceptable!”

“The king has been taken by dragons and you focus on what’s most important to your fantasy life? Why am I not surprised? I’m not. Because this is how you handle anything, you don’t help out and you focus on whatever appeals to you the most.”

“You act like you’re  _ so _ helpful.  _ Sure you are Logan. _ You want me to focus on the kidnapping when  _ you _ haven’t even done a single thing to help with that.”

“Yes, I do think I  _ am _ quite helpful actually! Because if we could just focus on the problem at hand, I might be able to fix it! But you’re here causing a big distraction!”

“ _ You’re so generous.  _ And I’ll tell you what, you’re also a genuinely, frustrating, dude!”

“Hey, you two, snap out of it!” Janus tried to grab their attention, but they kept on arguing.

“If this is generosity,” Roman continued. “Then you must be Santa Claus, and bitchmas came early this year! Ho, ho, ho! Merry bitchmas everyone!...”

“Well, now that doesn’t even make sense,” Janus commented. “How did we get to this point?”

“...roasting chestnuts and hanging up stockings…”

“Oh my god, Roman, shut up about bitchmas!” Janus said.

“Because it’s bitchmas! Don’t forget to kiss under the bitchletoe.”

“Wow!” Logan exclaimed. “Even I don’t have the vocabulary to describe what I’m feeling inside, for me it’s rather unordinary!”

“...running out into the snow, maybe making yourself a little snowbitch, he comes to life…”

“You… I don’t even know what you’re saying anymore nor do I think you do, but you are acting like a child.”

“...No one can bitch any mas than you, Logan! Goodbye, I hate you!” Roman turned around to dramatically storm off somewhere but he smacked right into somebody. “Hey, watch it- oh Virgil! Or  _ Prince _ Virgil. Do I have to bow now?”

Virgil just sneered at Roman. He must’ve returned from a quick crying session because his eyes were red and puffy and his dark eye shadow was streaked all over his cheeks. He wasn’t angry at Roman for any particular reason, but if you hadn’t noticed Virgil was a tad bit upset at the moment. “General, I was hoping I could talk with you,” he said in a voice croakier than normal, ignoring Roman.

“What is it Virgil?” Janus asked. He would rather talk to the kingdoms’s chemically imbalanced prince who had just lost his father  _ and _ found out that he’s part dragon all in the span of an hour than listen to Logan and Roman argue about… whatever they were arguing about.

“I want to…” Virgil hesitated. He was thinking some things over in his room and had come up with a plan. Well, not a plan- a loose idea. He wasn’t too sure about it either, it was probably impossible. “I was wondering if there’s a way…” God, was Virgil useless. His dad was probably dying at the hands of a brutal dragon and he was wasting time here?! “We need to rescue my dad,” he said. “Like ASAP. Please.”

Janus sighed. He too had been wondering if that was a possibility, but he just couldn’t see how it could happen. “Virgil… rescuing a prisoner from the dragons would already be suicide. There’s no way we’d be able to retrieve the king with the shape the army’s in right now.”

“Seriously?” Logan asked. “There’s  _ nothing  _ you can do?”

Janus hissed. He just  _ loved  _ when people demanded impossible feats from him. “A good chunk of the military just died, and a half of what’s left is injured. The soldiers spared could hardly even be called soldiers, they are mostly nurses and cooks.  _ But oh of course we can go kill a bunch of dragons in their homeland, that's so doable.” _

Janus was so caught up in being snarky to Logan that he forgot Virgil was there. “So he’s dead,” Virgil said on the verge of tears. It was a definite statement not a question, as if the poor boy had just given up hope.

Janus contemplated lying and saying that maybe something could be done just to keep the prince from breaking down, but luckily, Roman did that for him. “No, no. We can rescue him! General, I’m a soldier now right?”

Janus gave Roman a look of confusion. The kid’s interview had been interrupted by the attack and Janus hadn’t even planned on hiring this idiot anyway. But now that a bunch of jobs had just opened up, Janus really had no choice. “Uh, s-sure. Whatever.”

“Great!” Roman smiled. “On behalf of the military, I declare that we go save the king!”

“You actually can’t... do that…” Janus said. Oh god, this guy was hopeless.

Virgil frowned. With his dad being kidnapped and him finding out his parentage includes a dragon and a dragon concubine, his day was really not going great. And now Roman wanted to set out on a mission probably just for the glory and honor? Hell no! But at least he wanted to go save Virgil’s dad.

“Janus,” Virgil repeated. He looked down at the general with huge eyes, hoping that maybe he could convince him. “Please. I want to save my dad.”

Janus turned away and closed his eyes. He knew it’d be suicide but in his heart he knew that he couldn’t just sit there and watch the prince suffer while his dad was being killed by dragons. Janus did the math quickly. “Okay, so we have about ten soldiers that are adventure ready, but only half of which are actual soldiers. If we add myself that’s only six soldiers with five aids.”

“I’ll go,” Roman piped up. “And I have a brother too, he’d be good in a fight.”

Janus sighed. He didn’t like Roman and he was sure that his brother wouldn't be any better, but what choice did they have? “Fine, that makes eight. We’d need two more soldiers to make a functional battalion.”

“I’m sure there’s a few townspeople who might volunteer,” Roman offered.

“Because the common townsfolk would be  _ so  _ useful in a fight against dragons?”

“Well, yeah! Don’t underestimate us.”

“I- I’ll go,” Logan spoke up. The moment he said that, he regretted it. He didn’t want to go on a mission to the Dragon Mountains. But still, he couldn’t just stay here while Patton suffered. “I’m not trained in combat, but I’m quick and I have a few war strategies.”

Janus shrugged. “We need one more.”

Roman shot a quick glance at Virgil. He was the prince, would he heroically volunteer himself, like Roman imagined?

Virgil didn’t want to go. He couldn’t fight too well and he’d probably be too scared the whole time. But he was part dragon, and he might be of some use against the beasts. Plus, he would do anything to save his dad. “I’ll go,” he said, his voice wavering.

“Virgil,” Janus asked. “Are you sure? You might-”

“I  _ need  _ to save him.”

“Okay. So that’s that.” Janus frowned. He didn’t exactly have a plan so he wasn’t sure what to do next.

“It’s still morning,” Roman commented, looking outside at the sun. “I reckon we can start the expedition today. I’ll find my brother and get ready. Let’s say we rendezvous at noon in the courtyard?”

“No. We should go and prepare then meet up at noon in the courtyard,” Janus said. He didn’t like how Roman, the newest recruit to the military, had just taken the lead from him, the General.

“That’s what I just said…”

“No it’s not. Alright, good talk. You’re all dismissed.”

Logan swiftly walked away, knowing exactly what needed to be done before their departure. Roman smiled and ran off to find Remus and tell him the news. Virgil loitered for a second before walking off to find a place to reflect on what he just signed up for. And Janus was left in the hallway, grappling the fact that he was leading the rest of the military and the prince into a suicide mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes our exposition. I'm looking forward to writing the rest of the story. I plan on making the POV more clear and show the character's thoughts more to make it better. If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, please comment down below. ILY guys and I hope you have a good day, night, whatever time it is in the world that's blessed by your existance!


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